Knuckles,

In your 2nd to last para, you say: "Do you know what this means? this can lead to government control of even which operating system your PC will run". Isn't this overly conspirationist? Maybe this its just that Microsoft wants to ensure monopoly on their systems so they can constantly sell you new software

Actually, Microsoft now puts the product key in the bios chipset...
this might explain why only Windows 8 is seen.
It would stand to reason that they also set up the bios to see only what is supposed to be on the HD for an OS, and that the product keys match.
You might want to find a source of bios chipsets to use when "downgrading"

If the product key is in the chipset, why do they ask for it again during the install? Why is there also cracks out there that claim to bypass such security measures for Windows 8? Do they not function then? Seems another thing to look up later 😯

In fact I was trying to see if there was a bios flash that would allow other OS 's to be applied. NADA ! This means that this specific model only allows for Windows 8. And to be even more specific, it doesn't even see Windows 8.1. I even stopped the install at it's initial start by ejecting the DVD and it was searching for a config file in Windows/ System32 which should suggest that it is version specific too. I totally dislike the limitations that this suggests might become the new standard.

There is a configuration in the CMOS which allows a Lan reinstall for the original OS to be replaced. There is mention on Acers site that Linux is not suggested as an addition as Windows 8 may then become unstable. I'd say that is a hint that Windows 8 might have issues with sharing privilege rights then too if trying to install Linux to run from within Windows. That suggestion too shows that they don't want Linux aboard if your intent was to install from within Windows.

I now smile at the idea that going to Linux is downgrading as I thought that way too until lately. I am gradually seeing advantage to this OS as it is becoming quite competitive in performing the basic daily functions. The issues that prevent me from using it as my primary OS it that it doesn't run many Windows apps using the Wine program to pave the way. This would be okay if there were other software to replace those apps we use in our daily business. But such things as email, web browsing, and hacking, it does well and with better security throughout the process. It's just not as pretty while doing it! But to dual boot a computer so it has both system on board is an absolute upgrade to creating the perfect computer in these times.

As for my suggesting government controls, do you forget that both Canada and the US enacted bills which allow them to gather data on the masses for up to a year? And governments already have the power to specify that manufacturers incorporate certain features specific to government regulations. Just because the manual is written in 2 or more languages doesn't mean they also have to specify government standards to us, just that they have been met. And this is the I'll scratch your back and you scratch mine mentality between Microsoft and our governments. The playing field is not level and we have known this for quite some time!

ICQ was the first chat program of any weight and value. Seeing the potential, Microsoft Messenger was soon born and the Microsoft team soon killed all the competition. Many relied upon this program but hated the insecurities as it's many backdoors allowed hackers to impregnate viruses into your PC. We never knew that someone could make a more secure program until Skype came along and proved they could! I switched to Skype from near it's conception and shuddered at the news that Microsoft finally bought them out. Why not just improve Messenger instead? Seems they don't want competition, so if they can't destroy an enemy, they buy them instead. Microsoft has every aspect of daily web communications locked up and they hand the keys over to the NSA. Pretty hard not to see conspiracy these days when it surrounds every aspect one looks at a little closer.

I know the majority of readers say that they have nothing to hide as I too say this. But imagine dome of the private things that get said over your phone or PC in the total of a years time. This allows the government a whole list of possible angles to squeeze anyone into testifying against you or other loved ones as they collect data on them too. So I'd say that best alternative is to protect oneself early by creating secure means of reducing this data collection against you.

And this leads to the topic at hand. What would be the perfect Prepper's computer?

the product key in the chipset is for OEM machines...those that are bought with wincrap already installed. Microsoft sends the manufacturer a disk image and a bios image with matching numbers.
Installing on custom built machines with external media does not have this restriction.
As for more technical data, I can't say. I haven't tinkered with the innards of a PC for quite some time...the last PC I built from parts was a 486.
Oh...and as far as linux being a downgrade...that's why I put it in quotes!
I did take your advice on the Vaio and installed linux (mint) on it dual booting with Vista and love it.(the linux part...not vista)
My next step will be clearing Vista off that laptop...when I find a way to power it with a 12 volt DC supply, turning it into a linux only machine.
I will likely also try to install linux as a dual boot on this laptop, which is running wincrap 8.1.

I would like to know how the install goes as I don't even own a Windows 8 machine as yet.

I have way too many computers as they seem to accumulate more now that I do servicing. I have a couple of laptops that needed screens that I use as independant workstations as they attach to any of my 2 input monitors her and at the shop. These dual cores are the test benches for various versions of linux to see what accessories come with that specific version. Linux Kali is a hackers system that I find unique but soley dedicated to only that aspect alone. I also have a commercial HP server that I'm testing their server software on but it is too command line driven for me at this point as I too am still new to Linux to have mastered this aspect as yet.

I have run Kubuntu on older single core XP computers and it is stable. But it is the aspect of teaching others to change over now that keeps me looking for the ultimate version. Mint is definitely the closest to Windows 7.

As technology changes, they are coming out with newer ways track individuals. Not long ago, Mac boasted that they were eliminating the Mac Address as a means of tracking their phones. https://www.fiksu.com/blog/ios-7-eliminates-mac-address-tracking-option This made many of us sit up and pay attention as this gave us users more privacy. Too bad the truth is that there are newer better aspects to track and many are dropping the Mac Address as Mac address spoofer software provided "reasonable doubt" to aid in convictions.

My intent is not to support those with criminal intent but to secure those whose rights are being dissolved by back door tactics. Folks need to be made aware of this ever changing world and the pitfalls that technology presents. Entrusting your future to a firewall designed by Microsoft isn't your best choice. Staying up on the gameplay is the only way to play safe these days.

The perfect preppers computer is to not have one period. I know in todays world things are very dependant on computers and all sorts of technology, but hell we can do without it we did in the past. You think the government is interested in how many people are in your Facebook files and what you do on a daily basis, I think not, but then again who cares. If you work or have a sin number and file taxes or fill out a sensuous form they have all the info they need.
For a real conspiracy try watching TV ads now which ask you to send in a DNA sample to know your health history......scary stuff. Or what about kid watch, every school had this program, give your picture and child's finger prints so they can find them in an emergency....
The Governments know who you are and where you live and if you think different well ???

Off the grid is off the grid

Now the "No Computer" aspect is indeed a more secure approach, but how many are willing to go this route? Then there is still the telephone data to consider next. The government isn't collecting data on specific individuals these days. They openly admit that data is collected En' Masse. This means they collect all the data everywhere and can then research any person's previous activities for up to a years time. New laws have also enabled them to use such data in a court of law to obtain convictions whereas they had to obtain search warrants previously before the collected data was viewed as submissable.

Our government claims that this ability will only be used against those whom they determine a threat. But who then defines this parameter? Yet they claim these laws were written for the purpose of catching the elusive terrorist . What, we wrote them for a scare tactic which occurred on Via rail immediately after the Boston marathon bombing. This same bill passed in both the US and Canada at approximately the same time, pushed thru by the joint approval of the Conservative and Liberals at a time when they never agreed on anything!

Now this could be considered all coincidence as everything else is these days. But laws that protected Canadians for 170 years are all of a sudden rewritten to revoke our rights. Thus is should be considered that all is not well and that maybe we had best start to pay attention from here on in. So where do you start? I'd say that this has to be at the products that enslave us....the cell phone and the computer!

Well now, I guess that depends on what you want to use it for.
I have a small tablet...very cheap...around 50 bucks on sale.
I store e books in it...both prepping and general reading.
It has a calculator, clock, and a few other handy things like that too.
I like it because it isn't a power hog...and I can charge it with USB.
5 volt power is easy to generate with a small solar panel and easy to store with an inexpensive external battery pack.Here is one I saw on ebay...
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/30000mAh-Dual-USB-Portable-Solar-Battery-Charger-Power-Bank-For-Cell-Phone-Black-/121410498678?pt=US_Cell_Phone_PDA_Chargers&hash=item1c44a13076

The tablet also takes micro SD cards, where I can store my important prepper info.
And just in case you're worried about EMP...the whole thing fits in a coffee can.

wincrap

Hear Hear .... I love Linux and Unix also

You've mentioned this solar panel before. How long does it take to recharge that tablet vs it being installed in an outlet instead? I ask to get an idea of it's abilities. I too would be interested in such a small unit but it is hard to believe that it could produce much energy being so small. Usually each cell creates .5 volt and that seems to be the size of only 1 cell.

I too have a E-Book reader tablet that I can read outdoors on the brightest day. They seem to work on a different principle than many other tablets but the OS is slow and lame overall. What I like most is the 3 weeks before a recharge is required. I keep planning to convert it to Android OS as some have but it works well the way it is and I seem to put off the revamp due to this.

These EBook readers have their place in prepping as I can't imagine trying to print off everything and then protecting and maintaining such books for long term storage. Yet the batteries in these Ebooks will eventually fail too and they don't appear easy to replace either. In the meantime, technology advances and we either keep up or get off the road completely. Will files created in newer PDF format be readable to an older version of software? Such things have to be considered before relying on older machines to save the day. When I create PDF files, I make sure that they are done in a format of version 9 and less as this allows many older forms to then view the file.

So maybe we best start listing what things the Prepper's basic home computer should have on board.

The Prepper's Home Computer

So lets start at the Core.....

I think that all your pertinent information should be kept on a mobile computer such as a laptop. You can use a tower as your primary home PC, but duplicate all important software installs and data storage on the laptop. This laptop therefore doesn't have to have all the bells and whistles, just be reliable and have a decent battery life in it. Most harddrives and batteries have a reliable lifespan of 5 years whereas the rest of the laptop can last longer. My suggestion is to replace the harddrive with a solid state drive instead when it is due as this will double your battery time alone and bootups in Windows 7 can be as little as 10 seconds with such a drive too. Here's some pricing on such http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/Category/guidedSearch.asp?CatId=5298&srkey=solid%20state%20drive

The next thing is to load Windows 7 (as it's more secure than 8) and dual boot it with Linux Mint. Mint will allow you to run many programs that can create a safe browsing environment in the worst of conditions. Now the neat thing about Linux is that it divides the harddrive into a separate part thru partitioning the drive. Any data stored here cannot be seen by Windows, but it can still see and work with files on the Windows side of the partition. A handy item in many ways as you can use Linux to remove viruses that would otherwise require the reformatting of Windows. So when installing Linux, this knowledge might come in handy when determining how big the partition needs to be to run Linux. You put those files which you want fully secured on the Linux side but the majority can be shared by both if placed on the Windows side. Also when Linux asks how big to make the Swap File Directory, set this limit by how much memory the laptop has and multiply that number by 2. (eg: If you have 4 GB of ram, you want the swap file to be 8GB in size)

Linux Mint can be found here for free http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
(rule of thumb...go 64 bit on newer machines and 32 bit on old single core machines as driver configuration is the main issue.)

I guess the next point if we work in a progressive order is Security. This is something that will require mention at various aspects of install but I start here with the first step

HARDWALL SECURITY:

You start with a CMOS lock. CMOS is at the core of the machine when you start it. this means that it's access is before any operating system kicks in. Lock this and the culprit goes no further, no matter how skilled a hacker they are. There are different keys to open various brands but the common keys are DEL, F1, F2 or ESC. This brings you into CMOS and you must be very careful in here not to screw things up. You find the password area and enter a password you KNOW you won't forget. Forget this password and you will turn your laptop into a pile of scrap as there are no get arounds to remove this option once set. Save and exit.

Your laptop now has the most secure protection in place possible. This means no one can even start the system up to do anything. Data can now only be stolen by removing the harddrive itself and accessing it from another computer. So all other security measures applied are now from a software aspect and then using things like encryption to scramble the data.

note: many encrypted files in Windows can be simply viewed as unencrypted when looking at them thru Linux whereas Linux files cannot be even seen by Windows software.

This little tidbit of knowledge might help you better decide what file is stored where.

Which Windows version?

You know I'm not going to say Windows 8! That is because Microsoft has made this such a closed system that most hackers can only guess as to it's secrets. Vista at least gave us a clue as to their intentions with the discovery of 4 hidden programs that send MS your computers info and Windows 7 runs far faster and we all now know it well. Many searched Windows 7 for these same features and nothing was ever found. Therefore the easy answer for me is Windows 7.
This choice allows you the security aspect of the latest programs and software with all their essential updates. Run 64 bit version if possible as it processes things faster if possible.

I am posting the cleanest versions I know of all these OS's. These are legal to use as long as you use your Laptop's serial number for Windows versions. Only when you run a crack program for a serial number do they become illegal. These version are tweaked by hackers who know their stuff. Most unneeded features are turned off or completely removed, therefore your system will run faster. All suspect items placed there by MS have also been removed. This is why they are CLEAN versions!

Windows XP: http://h33t.to/torrent/29329/turbo-windows-xp-pro-sp3-x86-32-bit-fully-updated-net-framework-tweakerl-h33t (click "Torrent" button)

Windows Vista(32 bit): http://bitsnoop.com/windows-vista-eternity-2009-sp1-x86-q1692827.html (click "Download Torrent" button)
Windows Vista (64 bit): http://h33t.to/torrent/01907484/windows-vista-black-eternity-64-bit-no-serial-or-crack-needed ( I haven't used this one)

Windows 7: https://thepiratebay.se/torrent/5101490/WINDOWS_SE7EN_ETERNITY (click the "Get this Torrent" button)
I have tested many... this is the cleanest and fastest and getting hardest to find.

All these above programs require you to use DVD burning software that can convert an ISO image into a bootable DVD. All you need for this is here http://h33t.to/torrent/4359986/nero-burning-rom-12-v12-0-00800-multilingual-crack (it is only a trial version unless you run the crack)

When you install any of this software, it is best to start from a clean harddrive. This is done at the initial startup when installing. Under the Advanced settings, you delete all the existing partitions and then create new ones. In this way, no viruses can survive this process and you know that you have started fresh.

For all Windows versions, you format the drives in NTFS format. Here is where you can also set up for installing Linux later. I will give an example.

On a 500 GB drive:

1. create a partition of say 250 GB (format NTFS) ... this will be your primary drive for Windows install.
2. create a partition of say 50 GB (don't format) .... this will be for your Linux install
3. create a partition of 8 GB (don't format).... this is for Linux swap files files
4. create a partition of remaining space (format NTFS).... this is for shared files

Select your primary drive for Windows and start the install.

During the install, input your present serial number and if it doesn't accept it, uncheck the box regarding serial number and disconnect the internet cable until later. Select the option that you'll choose yon updates later too as you have to set this up properly to avoid unneeded clutter that will bog your machine down too.

You've mentioned this solar panel before. How long does it take to recharge that tablet vs it being installed in an outlet instead? I ask to get an idea of it's abilities. I too would be interested in such a small unit but it is hard to believe that it could produce much energy being so small. Usually each cell creates .5 volt and that seems to be the size of only 1 cell.

I too have a E-Book reader tablet that I can read outdoors on the brightest day. They seem to work on a different principle than many other tablets but the OS is slow and lame overall. What I like most is the 3 weeks before a recharge is required. I keep planning to convert it to Android OS as some have but it works well the way it is and I seem to put off the revamp due to this.

These EBook readers have their place in prepping as I can't imagine trying to print off everything and then protecting and maintaining such books for long term storage. Yet the batteries in these Ebooks will eventually fail too and they don't appear easy to replace either. In the meantime, technology advances and we either keep up or get off the road completely. Will files created in newer PDF format be readable to an older version of software? Such things have to be considered before relying on older machines to save the day. When I create PDF files, I make sure that they are done in a format of version 9 and less as this allows many older forms to then view the file.
]

That's a great question.
Right now I have only the WakaWaka Power (I still love that name) which has a 2200mAH battery...not much power at all, but it will charge an Iphone a couple of times.
I will run the charge on the tablet down and see how long it takes to charge.
Answer coming soon...

Just landed to another city and straight to my buddy house where I left my Asrock 990FX9 PC for a year or so . So dusty. And 1 gig of ram is not functioning, left me with a 3 gig total ram.

Currently I can be considered homeless. But since I tried my best to make good terms with people, they lent me lockers or even rooms for me to stock my stuffs. Got some desktops and laptops scattered all over many cities.

In many places I put my supplies from dried food, clothing, extra cash,etc. And always either a laptop or a cellphone.
What it is called again prepping method like this?
Not a bug-out-location, just like depots everywhere. 😆

I like old cellphones, just their batteries are hard to find nowadays.

Still learning more about Linux.